Immich•2w ago

Advice on periodically moving images to external libraries

So I like to store my images in dated/named folders on my NAS "\yyyy_mm_dd desciption of day" etc, 30 years worth, but I also like the auto cell phone/mobile backup of images to immich. Of course this imports them into the immich database. I read somewhere that I shouldn't simply delete the images from the "\library\admin\2025" folder.
So what is the best way I can for example every two months move the immich stored images/videos to my NAS and then use external folders instead? Can I automate this process? I did check the wiki but couldn't see any advice.

Immich•12/12/25, 9:33 AM

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Immich•12/12/25, 9:33 AM

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Finn•12/12/25, 10:17 AM

Immich itself does not have any explicit export function. You can use tools like immich-go to pull images from the server but that won't delete the assets from the server. You would probably need to create some custom script for this to delete them via the Immich API.

Usually I'd rather suggest to just use the storage template, but that would not give you the ability to put a description on dates. So you need to decide if the effort is worth it for you.

eandwalOP•12/12/25, 10:59 AM

understood, am I ok to do this manually, e.g. move from "\library\admin\2025" to my NAS and immich will clean up the database? If not how should I do it?

Eeandwal understood, am I ok to do this manually, e.g. move from "\library\admin\2025" to...

Zeus•12/12/25, 11:00 AM

No, not at all. Finn just explained you the whole process?

Zeus•12/12/25, 11:01 AM

You need to use the immich api. You must treat the immich internal library folder as read only

eandwalOP•12/12/25, 11:09 AM

ok, got it now. So users like me that prefer external folder storage have to stop doing it that way to move forward with immich. I'm just thinking surely there would be a large user base requesting this way of working and for it to be a more user friendly process? For now i'll look into immich-go and pulling them out. many thanks.

Zeus•12/12/25, 11:10 AM

Most people who use only external storage, already upload the photos through a different mechanism

Zeus•12/12/25, 11:11 AM

Maybe some day what you ask will be possible, but probably not for a while

eandwalOP•12/12/25, 11:27 AM

/close

ImmichAPP•12/12/25, 11:50 AM

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Advice on periodically moving images to external libraries

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